What I'm Most Proud Of...

Lately I’ve been doing a lot of reading and observing in an effort to better myself as an exercise professional, and by transference, a better person I guess. Many of the things I’ve seen, heard and read lately have kind of led me to a common theme:

I’m very proud of many of the things my clients have done over the years and things we’ve done as a group that have led to many improvements, both physical and otherwise. But the more I thought about it the thing that I am most proud of, is that the overwhelming majority of Training Rim success stories are real people.

I know you’re wondering what I mean by “real people”. I mean someone who was not born looking like a magazine cover, and/or has limitless time, money and resources to make him or herself even more beautiful. The fact that so many take exercise advice from people like that really frustrates me.

A real person is also someone who wasn’t born with once in a lifetime genetic athletic ability. I can almost guarantee you that my strength and conditioning program is superior to many professional athletes routines (I’m sure it’s better than Albert Haynesworth’s for example). But because I was born with a very bad case of small and slow, I’m never going to be a professional athlete no matter how effective my workouts are. Luckily, I figured this out relatively early in life.

Training Rim members are real people.

TR members have jobs, many with long commutes, many sedentary in nature. They have children, many who are young and require a significant investment of time. They have spouses, many of whom have jobs themselves. They have family and friends. They have homes that need to be taken care of. Many TR members have all the above.

Not one of them is independently wealthy. They can’t hire full time nutritionists, chefs, cleaning people, trainers, etc. It is NOT THEIR JOB to be lean and strong – and they are anyway. This is what I’m most proud of.

This is not a knock on Beyonce (or fill in the name of another super hot celebrity) who’s had great success. It’s just that we, meaning non uber-rich, non uber-good looking people, simply can’t do what she does and expect the same results. I have Beyonce on the brain because I recently saw her workout routine on E!: It was absolutely absurd. The amount of time wasted on idiotic stuff was beyond measure. And somewhere right now some soccer mom is doing what Beyonce/Kardashian/Ripa whoever does for no other reason than “they do it and it works for them.”

Watching great athletes train isn’t much different. I read a blog post recently from Mike Boyle (if you don’t know who Mike is, he’s generally spent the better part of 25 years getting better results with high level athletes than just about anybody on the planet.) In it, Mike wrote:

“I wrote an article called ‘An Apology Letter to Personal Trainers’. I’ve been telling them how to do their job for years and never trained a single non-athlete. Over the past few years I’ve started to, andit’s hard work. I think personal training is much more difficult than working with athletes. We’ve got 2 hours per week to counteract the other 166 hours of the week. It’s not a good ratio to try and make changes.”

As you would imagine, he’s EXACTLY right. Almost every TR client falls into the 1-3 hours per week category, trying to offset everything else mentioned above.

And the reasons TR members get results in spite of having the deck stacked against them isn’t so much a result of what we do. In most cases, it’s what we DON’T do. We don’t waste our time with things that are obviously ineffectual and/or overly time consuming. When you have two hours per week you don’t have 18 hours per week to jog like Beyonce, and even if you did, I would tell you your time would be better spent elsewhere. You have to get to the gym, get to work hard and fast and get out – period.

To paraphrase Mike Boyle again, people are always surprised when they see and try our training methods 1st hand. For some reason they think we’re alternating between bouncing on stability balls and staying still. Then I’ll get an email that says “I tried that move you had on your blog the other day – holy sh!t that hurts!”. Or, they’ll tell me “Oh that’s easy.” Then I’ll watch them try it and it will be an embarrassingly bad half assed attempt at what they thought we do. Then I correct them, and it’s not so easy all of a sudden.

We spend our time getting strong and getting conditioned. Anything else is a waste of time.

And if you think Zumba Cardio Kick Step Mocha Latte class is conditioning, you’re in for a rude awakening. Frankly, if your condition sessions are fun, they aren’t really conditioning sessions, they’re time killers.

A facility full of lean strong people with lives outside the facility. This is what I’m most proud of. (Admittedly, the fact they tell me they have fun too is a cool residual side effect though!)

A Testimonial For My Clients!

Yep, I’m writing a testimonial for my clients. I’ve received piles of testimonials over the years that have flattered me: now it’s my turn to return the favor. My friend Jon calls this a “reverse testimonial”. I don’t like the term, but he’ll accuse me of plagiarism if I don’t credit him.

Anyway, I was participating in the 5pm small group session earlier tonight. Sharon was doing the training and I asked her to give me the last 10 minutes or so – I had a new circuit I wanted to try on my clients and myself.

We completed the circuit, it went well as expected, but it WAS…NOT…EASY. I can’t emphasize this enough.

But because I had stopped my workout to explain the particulars of the circuit, I wanted to do a few more rounds myself. So I said to the group “the session is officially over, feel free to split, see you next time. I am going to do 3 or 4 more rounds though. If anyone wants to stick around and do them with me, you’re more than welcome to, but if you want to or need to split, no biggie.”

The session was over. Both in terms of time (it was 6pm) and programming – Sharon and I did everything we wanted to. I was expecting to be swinging kettlebells for a few more minutes on my own.

What I got was this: 6 blank stares and everybody holding their kettlebell. The stares said “Bring it on Rimmer. Where the hell else would I rather be than swinging kettlebells with my friends?”

Insert picture of me going “You are all some bad ass b!tches, and I LOVE MY JOB!!!”

And I know what some of you are thinking: they caved to peer pressure.

Nope. My clients know their workout is THEIR workout. Do what you need to do and peer pressure is not allowed.

And some of you were thinking, well the previous 50 minutes couldn’t have been that hard.

B.S. I wiped the mats twice because of sweat accumulation and we had the AC blasting.

And no, none of us are like those CrossFit ass-sticks who can’t differentiate between working hard and being a moron. Everybody was still bio-mechanically competent.

And yes, I did call them bad-ass b!tches to their faces and they all loved it because they know I meant it with unbelievably high admiration for their toughness and dedication to their workout, to me, and to each other.

BIG time props to L-Jo, She-Ra, LoriLori, Sasha, Shazarella and T-Woww – love you guys! Feel free to mock people who work out while watching TV and fiddling with their phones.

Stay with me people...

There’s a reason for everything. I was watching the news this morning then simultaneously clicked a link to an article from a Facebook friend. Because of those two things, we’re all here together now. Can I get a round of applause for Robin Meade on CNN and Ivonne Ward, my colleague and fellow little angry exercise and health buddy for connecting us all? Thank you!

Lately, as you may or may not have noticed, I’ve been on a tangent with people that want to lose weight. It’s such a silly concept, but so many people have that mindset, it kind of irritates me. Maybe if I were in another profession where I didn’t have to listen to, or be asked about “losing weight” all the time I wouldn’t be so irritated about it.

Then I watched the news this a.m. and listened about a study that listed all the things women would give up in exchange for “being skinny”. Things that otherwise they enjoy and make them happy.

I immediately threw up in my mouth.

Being “skinny” means you are WEAK. Being skinny means you are UNHEALTHY. Being skinny means YOU LOOK MALNUTRITIONED. And it kills me that I can’t figure out a way to get this point across to people without p!ssing them off. (And yes, smarty pants, I do try to get my point across without p!ssing people off sometimes).

Then I read this article by an author who could get these points across far better than I, so I’m posting the link below.

But the take home points that I REALLY need you to pay attention to are:

1. Exercise is the key to happiness. NOT the key to being skinny. Better health, energy, cognitive function and sleep patterns are all benefits of exercise.

2. Just because the guys in the weight room at big-box mega gym are douche bags, DOESN’T MEAN YOU SHOULDN’T WEIGHT TRAIN!

3. Sweat does not mean you are working hard – sweat means you are hot. These are two very different things. Stay with me people…

4. You are going to p!ss more money away than you can imagine during your life, much of it on things you think will help your health. Knowing that, not paying for a good trainer because it’s expensive is SILLY.

5. What you did when you were 22 to get in shape is not applicable anymore. You were in shape then in spite of your exercise routine, not because of it.

6. Don’t go kamikaze style training for 3 weeks and think that’s going to do anything. Slow and steady always wins the race.

OK, that’s my version – move on to the better one here:

Gretchen Rubin says:

http://www.happiness-project.com/happiness_project/2010/08/12-tips-for-nudging-yourself-to-exercise-regularly.html

And for the record: Re: the woman in the photo on the treadmill? That's a stock photo - she did NOT get that body by walking on a treadnmill.

The Best Way to Lose Weight!

Undoubtedly the topic that comes up the most in circles of exercise and nutrition is weight loss.

More often than not, it takes place between two people who are neither exercise professionals, nor nutritionists, which I find pretty telling. The fact that over half our country is overweight and about a third are obese I find even more interesting, considering it seems everybody has their two cents on the topic.

To me, it’s always been a silly discussion. Why someone would want to lose weight is beyond me. Lose fat? Sure. Lose weight, as in pounds? Why?

We all agree that the number on the scale tells you nothing about your appearance or your health. It measures your gravitational pull to the earth – nothing else. It doesn’t tell you if you look good or bad, it doesn’t tell you if you’re healthy or not.

There are men who weigh 200 lbs who are beyond fit and healthy. There are men who are 200 lbs who are obese. There are women who weigh 150 lbs who are smokin’ hot. There are women who weigh 150 lbs who are obese.

In over a decade in this business I haven’t met anyone who disagrees with me on this point. Yet most ignore this concept and still want to lose “weight”.

(On a side note: It’s often the beginning of some very silly Q&A sessions like this one:

Person 1: “I lost X pounds!”
Person 2: “Really?!? How did you do it?!?!”
My conscience: “Uh…, she ate less? How the F else would you lose weight?!?”)

Needless to say, I get asked my opinions on this subject often. And like many, this topic is certainly one where usually the person doesn’t want my opinion, they just want their own opinion confirmed, and will continue with their “low carb” BS no matter what I tell them.
That being said, I’m going to throw my two cents out there anyway, and I’m going to take a different path than usual, as to not repeat myself.

If you want to lose weight, just sit on the couch and do NOTHING.

Your lack of activity will bring your metabolism down to reflect the lack of activity. If your body sees you aren’t expending calories, it will reduce your metabolism and appetite to make sure you don’t eat many calories.

And by NO MEANS should you exercise. This will only increase your metabolism, which in turn will increase your appetite, which will in turn make it almost impossible for you to lose weight.

You’ll look better and you’ll feel better if you exercise. But you probably won’t lose pounds.
So go ahead and continue watching the number on the scale. Sit on the couch, don’t move and don’t eat. Just remember to give me credit for your success.

I'm OVER weight

Just started writing an article and in the process of doing a little research came across some things that made me switch gears and post this right away (rest of the article coming ASAP):

According to ideal weight charts from more than one source*, the following people are OVER weight:

I know this because picture 1 is me. Picture 2 is my smokin’ hot significant other, so I know what she weighs, and the last 2 are Gina Carano. Because Gina is a professional fighter, her weight is public knowledge.

Still wanna’ use a scale to measure your success?

*I saw several, the only one I saved is healthychecksystems.com.

My Most Important Lesson:

I’ve learned MANY lessons over my years of training, from different stand points: personal, professional, bio-mechanical, physiological, etc. Today, I’m going to let you in on the most important bio-mechanical lesson I ever learned. And I promise, for brevity’s sake, I’ll keep it real simple and to the point.

(*Before I begin, this lesson was learned in large part, from reading an article by Mike Boyle.)

This is the most important bio-mechanical lesson I ever learned:

If your lumbar spine moves and your hips don’t, you are a weak person.

If your lumbar spine does NOT move and your hips do, you are a strong person.

That’s it.

Want a little more in the way of specifics and detail? OK…

Your lumbar spine goes approximately from your tailbone to your lower/mid back. It is supposed to be rock solid and stable. It is similar to a supporting beam on your house: if that beam were weak and unstable, it wouldn’t be able to support the rest of the house which would place you in danger. Similarly, if your lumbar spine is weak and/or unstable, it will not be able to support movement from your arms and legs. It will “give” when your arms and legs push or pull, and will not only make you weaker, but make you more susceptible to injury. Reason #768 your lower back doesn’t need to be “stretched” or “lengthened”.

The best analogy of this is your lumbar spine is like a car door. Your car door has hinges on it to stop the door and prevent it from coming off when you push it open. If you push hard, it will give a little, but just enough so it doesn’t break. But if you continually keep pushing it open, and pushing it open, over and over again, eventually the hinges will break and your door will come off.

Your lumbar spine is designed to move in a similar manner. It will “give” just a little to prevent injury, but it’s not designed to do that. Eventually, if you keep pushing it, pulling it, twisting it, etc. the hinges will give and you will have a problem.

Conversely, your hips are supposed to be very mobile. By definition, it’s a ball and socket joint that should be able to move in just about any direction. Your hips are surrounded by some of the largest and most powerful muscles in your body, such as the glutes, quads and hamstrings. They are designed to produce force, produce locomotion, and stop and start many important activities.

However, if your hips are not mobile, or if your glutes are not strong enough to move them, your lower back will move in an attempt to help out (the term is called “synergistic dominance”). This leads to weakness (because your back is moving you instead of your big muscles) and potential for injury (because those hinges are being pushed over and over again).

To give you a visual, look at the two pictures below:

Figure 1:

The gray line representing Tania’s lumbar spine that goes from tail bone to lower/mid back is perfectly straight, i.e. has NOT MOVED. Conversely, as you can tell from the line drawn on her hips, her hip joints have moved A LOT. Actually, more than 90 degrees in spite of my horrible artwork that looks like a 90 degree angle. This picture was taken in mid kettlebell swing, and as has been discussed here previously, Tania is a strong person. The ability to keep the spine stiff and generate force with the hips is what gives her this type of strength.

Figure 2:

The line representing Tania’s lumbar spine is bent i.e. has moved in order for her to move the weight. The line representing her hips has barely moved meaning most of the effort will come from the lower back here. This is not good for power or for back health.

The only thing that’s confusing to me about this topic is that it’s so obviously correct, yet people choose to ignore its lessons every day. No rationale adult would say figure 1 is bad and figure 2 is good, but somewhere right now, some fitness professional is telling someone to stretch and loosen the lower back, and will pay little attention to glute strength.

This confuses the hell out of me – please don’t be one of those people. Have strong glutes and a healthy back. Your jeans will thank me for it.

*Mike, along with Gray Cook, wrote about a “joint by joint” approach to training. This particular lesson and blog is a microcosm of the larger picture they discussed.

This is why I get pissed...

This is why I get pissed:

I use a 30kg kettlebell when training. That’s almost exactly half my bodyweight. I’ve been exercising for two decades and training countless others for over a decade. I’ve been using kettlebells for about 5 years. And still, using the 70lb kettlebell is A LOT of difficult work for me.

Now hypothetically, if I had three women come into my studio, ages mid forties through mid sixties who were either new or needed reintroduction to exercise, giving them a 70lb kettlebell to do swings and get ups with would be a GOOD idea, right? If it’s good for me it must be good for them right?

No - of course not. No rational adult, exercise professional or otherwise would agree that’s a good idea.

Now what if I did that, and all of the women were injured as a result? What if two complained of knee pain and one injured her foot to the point of having to be on crutches?

I agree with what you’re probably thinking: If that happened I should find a different line of work, and anybody who continued to train with me should seek psychiatric help, not physical.

OK, what if I did that with kids? Yep, what if I had an eleven year old try to swing the 70lb kettlebell? I think we’d all agree that I would be guilty of negligence and carelessness at best.

This is not rocket science: Just because I do it, doesn’t mean my clients should do it.

Sad thing is, this training rationale (“I do it, it’s good for me, so it must be good for you”) happens every single day in a group fitness studio, and nobody says a word about it.

An “instructor” (use the term loosely, please) typically memorizes a pre-determined routine to follow. This pre-set routine is set right down to which exercises to do, how many sets, reps, for how long and for how fast or slow. This information typically comes from a DVD and is forced to memory by the “instructor”. No – I’m not making this up – I used to work at a chain gym and witnessed these meetings among the “instructors”, where they would all memorize and practice the routine. An international think tank of bio-mechanics it wasn’t…

The “instructor” then typically performs the routine on display in front of a group of people and asks the exercisers to follow along with the routine he/she just memorized.

Whether or not the movements and its variables are appropriate for everybody in the room is irrelevant in their minds. Fact is it’s more likely that it’s INAPPROPRIATE FOR THE MAJORITY OF PEOPLE DOING IT. But this discussion will never come up. The rationale given by the DVD producer, then by the “instructor” then accepted by most exercisers is “THIS IS WHAT I MEMORIZED AND I CAN DO IT SO YOU HAVE TO DO IT TOO, DAMMIT! I DON’T CARE IF IT’S APPROPRIATE FOR YOU!”

This goes on every day and…is…just…simply…accepted…

Why? I’m not sure. I know if I had a room full of people doing the same workout I did, while I was doing it instead of watching them, they would get injured and I’d get sued.

Which is another interesting point: Uh, I’m sorry, exactly why are you working out with them Mr./Mrs. Instructor? Maybe I’m silly, but aren’t you supposed to be WATCHING YOUR CLIENTS INSTEAD OF WORKING OUT?!?! Can’t they watch you workout for free in the gym if they wanted? Why are they being charged and why are you getting paid?

And the situations I referenced above? All true. All (3 women and 2 kids that I know personally) were told to follow along with the “instructor” because the “instructor” is peppy and looks good in spandex so she MUST know what she’s doing right? And all 5 were injured.

This is why I get pissed.